


History in the Making

by captainamergirl



Category: The Boxcar Children - Gertrude Chandler Warner
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Ficlet, Original Character - Freeform, Teen Romance, lesbian love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: 16-year-old Violet gives her new girlfriend a peek into her past. {Violet/Original Female Character}
Relationships: Violet Alden & Original Female Character(s), Violet Alden/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	History in the Making

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: tonight.

“Okay, why do you have a _train_ in your backyard?” Standing in the Alden estate gardens beneath a full, yellow moon, Beth’s eyes are the color of midnight. It’s all Violet can do not to kiss her right then and there.

_But first things first._

Violet squeezes Beth’s tiny fingers with her own. “I told you I wanted to show you something important to me. This is it.”

Beth looks uncertain. Then, she says, “Well, lead the way, eh?”

Violet drops Beth’s hand, putting all her ninety-five pounds into the act of sliding open the door to the boxcar. It’s rusted over in places, and the hinges don’t give like they used to. Henry used to talk about fixing it up, but when he went away to college, the plans sort of fell by the wayside. Violet didn't mind though. She rather liked the old place the way it was.

Violet scales inside the boxcar with one jump. Landing deftly on two feet, she reaches out to Beth. Beth latches onto her arms as Violet tugs her inside. Their chests collide. Violet feels Beth’s ragged, panting breaths as if they were her own.

Violet eases away from her girlfriend. _Girlfriend._ She still can’t wrap her mind around the meaning of the word. It says so much, and yet hardly anything at all.

Deep down, she’d always known that she was different - not like her sweet, solid older sister, Jessie - but it had still somehow come as a surprise to her when she realized she didn’t long for boys, but instead other girls. _One girl in particular._

She recalls the tenderness, the quiet longing, she felt the first time she spotted Beth, standing under an archway at the grocery store, seeking shelter from the pouring rain, palms outstretched, asking passersby for spare change so she could buy herself a loaf of bread.

Violet shyly offered to buy Beth lunch at the corner deli and was surprised when Beth agreed. The rest was history.

_History in the making._

Violet lifts the oil lamp from the makeshift dresser; lights it with a match. Grasping it by the handle, she holds it above their heads so they can see better.

Violet’s eyes follow Beth’s. Beth seems curious about everything -- the hand-drawn pictures, the tattered furniture, the scuffs, the nooks and crannies, the secrets the abode contains; even the marks on the wall where Henry measured his younger siblings as they grew.

Benny’s chipped pink cup sits on a shelf, in a place of honor. He still loved it, but it was part of a past that, while never forgotten, had been outgrown in many ways. Violet was the only one who still visited the boxcar, who swept away the dust and cleared the cobwebs that collected in its drafty corners.

“What is all this?” Beth asks, tucking an errant chestnut curl behind her ear. “What makes it so special for you?”

Violet smiles quietly. “It’s my home away from home. I spent a lot of my childhood in this place. I even lived in it for a while.”

“You lived here?” Beth asks in surprise. “Why, when there’s a huge mansion five feet away?”

“My siblings and I lived in this boxcar long before we ever got a look at that mansion; long before we even met my grandfather. After our parents died, we ran away because we wrongly assumed our grandfather didn’t want us. We found this in the woods and we made a home in it; the best one we could. When Grandpa finally caught up to us and we realized he wasn’t the person we feared, that he was really a kind and generous man, we moved to town with him. He brought the boxcar here for us afterward. It was a safe space for us to play in, but also a spot to remember when our circumstances were very different.”

“I had no idea, Vi,” Beth says. Violet’s ears tingle hearing that nickname. “I thought-”

“That I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth?”

“Well, yeah. Not that you never acted spoiled or anything. But you’re privileged. Your grandfather loves you; your family accepts you… They’d never kick you out for being gay like my family did.” Beth swipes at her eyes, glassy in the near-darkness.

“I _am_ lucky,” Violet admits. “I wish you could have a grandfather like mine, and siblings who love you no matter your sexual preference. I wish you had shelter all the time, and never had to live in a group home, or on the streets; that you always knew where your next meal was coming from, and that you were safe and protected. You deserve all those things.”

Beth shifts from foot to foot. “I’m fine.”

“You don't always have to be 'fine', you know. Just please promise me you’ll let me help you, as much as I possibly can.”

“You already do. I take too much from you.”

Violet reaches out to cradle Beth’s face in her hands. “But you give me so much more.”

“You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met, Vi.”

Violet feels a blush creeping up her neck. “I don’t know about that.”

“I mean it. You don’t look at me and see dirty, unwashed trailer trash. You just … _see me.”_

“It’s because I love you. I know we’re young, and we’ve only known each for a short-” She breaks off as Beth is suddenly kissing her.

Violet melts under the urgent pressure of Beth’s mouth. They kiss for a long time; finally stumbling backward into a heap of clean towels.

A tangle of limbs, clinging desperately to each other, Beth’s mouth grazes her ear. “Thanks for showing me your world tonight.”

Beth doesn’t say “I love you” in return, but Violet’s okay with that. Beth’s been to hell and back. She needs to learn how to trust people again. Violet will never pressure her.

And for now, they have this moment.

_It’s everything._


End file.
